SVCW Commission Approves Final Stage for Development of Front of Plant Project

The Silicon Valley Clean Water (SVCW) Commission today (December 6, 2018) approved the final stage for development of its Regional Environmental Sewer Conveyance Upgrade (RESCU) Front of Plant (FoP) project.

The Commission also updated agreements with several consultants to support the project, which will be ongoing through September 2022.

The RESCU program includes conveyance system improvements to transport wastewater from member agencies’ collection systems to the SVCW wastewater treatment plant. The gravity pipeline project will discharge to the FoP project which is a major part of the RESCU program and includes: 1) a Receiving Lift Station (RLS) to lift the wastewater from the gravity pipeline to the surface, 2) a headworks that has screening and de-gritting technology, 3) a new influent pipeline that carries the flow from the headworks to the plant, and 4) FoP site improvements. In addition, the project includes electrical, chemical storage, and odor control support facilities.

In November 2017, the Commission approved the Shea Parsons Joint Venture (SPJV) Design-Build Agreement which included provisions for both Stage 1 and Stage 2 activities. Stage 1 activities included design services to bring conceptual designs from the 10% level to approximately 60% design level at which point Stage 2 activities (design completion and construction) could be defined and priced.

The Design-Build Agreement allowed for release of Stage 2 activities in “packages” rather than waiting for the entire project to reach 60% design. This allowed advancement of subsurface construction elements and procurement of equipment with long lead times.

“This approach facilitates schedule compression and reduces overall overhead costs, project management staffing and the effects of inflation and market volatility, which is significant in this local high-growth economy,” said SVCW Manager Teresa Herrera.

Stage 1 and portions of stage 2 work has proceeded the past 13 months and included reinforced concrete pile fabrication and installation at the FoP site at 1400 Radio Road at the southeastern tip of Redwood Shores. Completed work has also included excavation and mobilization and site preparation, as well as construction of a 36-foot inside diameter tunnel boring machine shaft and 66-foot inside diameter RLS exterior shaft, both to depths of about 101 feet.

The total executed amount for Stages 1, 2A, 2B and 2C of the FoP project was $28,113,793.

The Stage 2D amendment approved by the Commission authorizes SPJV to construct the remaining FoP elements and complete the FoP project over the next nearly four years. The scope of work is completion of the design from 60% to 100% and construction of the FoP. The main components of the project include:

Repurposing and completion of the surge and flow splitter shaft which was initially constructed for retrieval of the tunnel boring machine. This shaft will allow for surge protection of the gravity pipeline and Receiving Lift Station and to split incoming flow into the two manifolds of the RLS.

Construction of an inner shaft wall and the build-out and completion of the RLS, which will house two independent manifolds and six 400 HP dry pit submersible pumps to lift flow into the Headworks and associated ancillary equipment.

Construction of a new headworks facility, which will first screen and then de-grit incoming wastewater. The headworks will house storage bins for the solid wastes generated by the screening and de-gritting process and also all of the major electrical and control systems for the RLS and headworks.

Completion of a new 63-inch HDPE influent pipeline that will connect the headworks to the existing SVCW wastewater treatment plant.

The total authorization requested for the SPJV Stage 2D Amendment described above is $93,904,235. This fits within SVCW’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) budget for the project which has an allocated budget cost of $135,610,964 in the 2018 CIP Update.

The Commission also approved new tasks orders for the following firms:

Brown and Caldwell Stage 2 services as Owner’s Engineering Advisor will include assisting SVCW with oversight and coordination of the Stage 2 work, including: hydraulic and treatment process design submittal reviews, conformance with design intent, technical review of process activities, and coordination with staff. Other anticipated tasks include services related to change order reviews and possible higher than anticipated levels of oversight and assistance to SVCW.

Freyer and Laureta Stage 2 services as Owner’s Engineering Advisor will include assisting SVCW with oversight and coordination of the Stage 2 civil work. Services include: Complete site survey conformation and site civil and sub surface design submittals reviews and their processing, checking conformance with design, and technical review of civil activities.

Tanner Pacific scope will include assisting SVCW with oversight of construction activities. In a Design-Build environment, quality control is the responsibility of Design-Builder (in this case, SPJV). Quality assurance on the part of SVCW includes “spot-checking” approximately 10% of the quality control being performed by SPJV. Tanner Pacific provides construction management services to SVCW on all its CIP projects and will now provide quality assurance services to this project.

Kennedy/Jenks and SVCW management have negotiated a scope and budget for the continued management of RESCU Program. The scope of work includes coordination amongst the three major projects and their respective design-build teams, environmental and permitting oversight, public information/outreach, management and program administration, project controls, risk management, and program communications. The term of the services is through the scheduled completion of the RESCU Program, including the pump stations projects; 65 months, or through April 2024.